Omari Spellman: “Just want to be the best version of myself”

— Hello, Omari! We are glad to see you in St. Petersburg. How are you? How did you spend this summer?

— I feel good, spent my summer at the pre Olympic qualifier with Lebanon. I was preparing for the season. I’m just excited to be here.

— Did you have an opportunity to practice on your own?

— Yes, of course. You know, whole summer was kind of just preparing for this with Lebanon. Right now I’m from the pre Olympic qualifier where I was able to accomplish. I hope to be useful for this team now.

— We just talked to your brother. Are you happy that he came with you here? Is he a basketball player also?

— Yeah. Since we were kids we were super tie, super close. So I have an opportunity to come here and accomplish something special. Happy to have my family with me. For me it’s incredible. I’m thankful for the organization for allowing me to do so.

— Zenit Basketball Club turned 10 years on Sunday. What would you like to say to the fans? It's a milestone you know.

— I know I’m new to the organization, I’m new to the coach of Zenit and St. Petersburg as a whole. I would say thank you to the fans for the continuing support, for an organization to reach 10 years old. Thank you to the fans, thank you to everyone for the continuing support. Hopefully we can make you guys proud this season. We’ll continue hard working.

— We know you played together with Alex Poythress in the past. What memories do you have of playing with him?

— I know Alex for a very long time. I had a chance to play with him in Atlanta. I learned a lot from his professionalism, from his maturity. We’ve had some crazy times. Definitely happy to be back in the same team with him.  

— What are your expectations of the upcoming season?

— I just want to be the best version of myself. For as long as I can be. Try to work on consistency and just try to be the best person I can be on each individual day. As far as a team, we have a culture of winning, a culture of success. I just want to be a part of that and do whatever coach needs me to do.